page_title: Israeli occupation of the West Bank
section_title: House demolitions
hierarchical_section_title: Israeli occupation of the West Bank / Collective punishment / House demolitions
caption_attribution_description: English: Description from B'Tselem source: "Israeli Authorities destroy Palestinian shepherding community in the Jordan Valley, 8.1.14: At about 6:30 A.M. this morning, Israeli military forces and Civil Administration personnel arrived at the Palestinian community of Khirbet ‘Ein Karzaliyah in the northern Jordan Valley. They then proceeded to demolish all of the community’s buildings, thereby rendering homeless the entire population – three families comprised of 10 adults and 15 minors. The residents have been left with no shelter for themselves or their livestock in the harsh winter weather conditions. The Israeli military also demolished the only water-pipe available to the residents." Photo caption: "A bulldozer of the Israeli Civil Administration accompanied by military jeeps, 8.1.14"
context_page_description: The Israeli occupation of the West Bank began on 7 June 1967 during the Six-Day War when Israel occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and continues to the present day. The status of the West Bank as an occupied territory has been affirmed by the International Court of Justice and, with the exception of East Jerusalem, by the Israeli Supreme Court. The official Israeli government view is that the law of occupation does not apply and it claims the territories are "disputed". Considered to be a classic example of an "intractable" conflict, the length of Israel's occupation was already regarded as exceptional after two decades and is now the longest in modern history. Israel has cited several reasons for retaining the West Bank within its ambit: a claim based on the notion of historic rights to this as a homeland as affirmed in the Balfour Declaration; security grounds, internal and external; and the deep symbolic value for Jews of the area occupied.
context_section_description: House demolition is considered a form of collective punishment. According to the law of occupation, the destruction of property, save for reasons of absolute military necessity, is prohibited. The practice of demolishing Palestinian houses began within two days of the conquest of the area in the Old City of Jerusalem known as the Moroccan Quarter, adjacent to the Western Wall. From the outset of the occupation of the Palestinian territories down to 2015, according to an estimate by the ICAHD, it has been estimated that Israel has razed 48,488 Palestinian structures, with a concomitant displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.
  Israel regards its practice as directed against houses built without Israeli permits or a form of deterrence of terrorism, since a militant is thereby forced to consider the effect of his actions on his family. Between September 2000 and the end of 2004, of the 4,100 homes the IDF razed in the territories, 628, housing 3,983 people were undertaken as punishment because a member of a family had been involved in the Al Aqsa insurgency. From 2006 until 31 August 2018, Israel demolished at least 1,360 Palestinian residential units in the West Bank (not including East Jerusalem), causing 6,115 people – including at least 3,094 minors – to lose their homes. 698 of these, homes to 2,948 Palestinians of whom 1,334 minors, were razed in the Jordan Valley (January 2006 – September 2017).
  Even huts by shepherds, on which taxes have been duly paid, can be demolished.
caption: Israeli military forces arriving to demolish the Palestinian community of Khirbet Ein Karzaliyah on 8 January 2014, rendering homeless the entire population of 10 adults and 15 minors; the military returned a month later to demolish tents in which residents were living since the last demolition[229]
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